The 2018 Center for Collegiate Mental Health (CCMH) found that college counselors and students using counseling services identified anxiety and depression as prominent reasons students seek treatment. In six years, student utilization of college and university counseling centers increased on average by 30-40%. This increase in demand has left counseling centers with the task of balancing rapid access to treatment - serving all students seeking treatment - versus being more exclusive with clients, leading to more in-depth services. Further complicating the situation, college students with threat-to-self characteristics, including suicidal ideation, attempts, and self-injury, use services 20-30% more on average than those without threat-to-self characteristics. 

        The report found that counseling centers approach toward new clients affected treatment outcomes. While counseling centers that scheduled clients for specific appointment times and counselors were not able to see as many people, they saw them more frequently and for longer periods of time. This resulted in better treatment outcomes and reduced symptoms compared to counseling centers that absorbed all clients regardless of current caseloads. The report noted this finding ought to inform higher education policy-makers. Other important things for policy-makers to note, according to the article, is how self-reported rates of anxiety and depression continue to rise, as well as threat-to-self characteristics, and rate of students receiving counseling has grown substantially, with 54.4% of students having previous counseling when seeking treatment.

        Over the years, the demand for mental health services on college and university campuses has led to difficulty finding balance between prioritizing absorption versus treatment. This issue has policy implications for local college/university counseling services in how they admit new clients, comparing the rapid-access, absorption approach to a scheduled, more intentional approach. This research can inform program and policy change for college campuses nationwide.

Discussion Questions

Social Policy in the News

The New York Times published an article, “Zero Tolerance’ Immigration Policy Surprised Agencies, Report Finds” written by publisher Ron Nixon, who reported and described the overwhelming repercussions of the zero tolerance immigration policy implemented by President Trump and his administration. The zero tolerance immigration policy was intended to deter all individuals, including families from illegally crossing the United States border. The zero tolerance immigration policy was enforced without warning or properly preparing for the negative outcomes associated with separating families at the border. Upon illegal entry, adults were apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security and federally prosecuted, families were forcefully separated, and children were cared for by U.S Department of Health and Human Services. According to this press release, the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S Department of Health and Human Services were ill-informed and did not have an official plan, protocol, or policy for separating families. 

Before President Trump signed an executive order to stop family separations, approximately 3,000 children were separated from their families and placed in the care of the U.S Department of Health and Human Services. Children who were separated from their families were placed in government run shelters, with some shelters not being notified that the children were recently separated from their parents, leaving them unaware of the child’s recent traumatic experiences. After President Trump signed an executive order ending family separations at the border, most children were reunited with their families. Some children were misplaced or unaccounted for, while others were not released back to families who were suspected to be unsafe, had reports of child abuse, or had criminal records. While families are no longer being separated at the border, Border Patrol continues to enforce the zero tolerance policy and single adults continue to be apprehended at the border and criminally prosecuted. In total, approximately 400,000 people were apprehended by Border Patrol in 2018. 

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